Across State Lines: Slavery & Freedom on the Delaware-Pennsylvania Border

As the repository for records of Delaware state and local governments, the Delaware Public Archives contains thousands of documents and other materials that can help with researching one’s genealogical roots. Among these records are census materials, vital statistics including birth, death, and marriage records; tax assessments, probate/estate records, land deeds, and military records. The Delaware Public Archives also preserves a large amount of genealogically related materials that were of private origin. These records include family histories, bible records, church records, manuscript genealogies, and newspapers.

Founded by local citizens in 1893, the Chester County History Center’s early years were occupied with collecting items of historical value, dedicating historical markers and searching for a permanent home. Those years created the nucleus of the current extensive library collections, which today include over 500,000 manuscripts, 20,000 volumes, and what one author in National Genealogical Society Quarterly called “one of the state’s best collections of newspaper clippings.” In 1942, the Chester County History Center, as it was known, moved into historic Horticultural Hall, adding a wing for its expanding museum collections. Succeeding years consolidated a strong emphasis on the collection of regional furniture, textiles and decorative arts objects, as well as material representing all aspects of life in southeastern Pennsylvania. Today, the museum collection contains over 80,000 artifacts.